Pooches need home for final days together

Monty has spent his whole life by his pal Brownie’s side. Now, as Monty battles through early-stage cancer, PALS East Bay is seeking someone to shepherd the inseparable pair through the last of their time together in peace and comfort.

PALS East Bay, a group founded to rescue homeless pets from East Bay shelters, is asking for the public’s help in finding a foster home to provide hospice care for the two older dogs currently in the Oakland Animal Shelter.

Monty, a lab mix, has early cancer. But Monty has lived with a German shepherd named Brownie his entire life, and PALS East Bay hopes to find a loving home to take both dogs, according to spokeswoman Nicole Perelman.

PALS was founded several months ago by Dr. Maria Steelman, a pediatrician from Lafayette. Steelman found that many of the dogs surrendered to shelter are older and often have significant health issues like cancer, according to Perelman. Steelman set up the Rainbow Bridge Fund to help these dogs, and began finding foster homes that could provide foster care for elderly dogs with cancer.

One of those homes belonged to Dr. Maria Rivero, a gerontologist from San Francisco. So far PALS East Bay has helped at least two aging dogs with inoperable cancer, one of whom passed away earlier this month, enjoy their last days in comfort.

Steelman hopes that others will open up their homes to elderly dogs in need of hospice care. To find out more about Monty and Brownie, call Nicole Perelman at (415) 385-2283 or go to www.palseastbay.com. You can also contact PALS East Bay via email at palseastbay@gmail.com.